We had an unfortunate situation with a near miss that could have resulted in tragic results for one of our patients. We admitted a patient from ED late last night, and the patient presented with chest pain and shortness of breath. The ED physicians wanted to D/C the patient and have her follow up with her PCP. The patient advocated for herself and asked to have further work-up. Her labs and imaging did not show anything concerning. 

The patient arrived to our floor and continued to complain of 10/10 abdomen pain. The nurse on NOC shift paged MD, and she was only given x1 dose of Toradol and turns. NOC nurse continued to page MD with no additional orders for the pain. They suspected GERD. The patient was very frustrated with the physician's lack of attention to her pain. 

Bella came on shift, received her report, and noticed that the admission orders were not done, code status was not entered, and the patient was still in immense pain. She immediately paged the MD and started working to get the patient addressed. At one point during Bella's day, the MD stated that he would die if her imaging was normal and that the GERD could be managed as an outpatient. This did not suffice for Bella. She CUSSed with kindness and was very adamant about the patient's pain. Bella was able to get orders for imaging of the abdomen and escalated her concerns to the charge and the Director. She remained on top of the orders and was very aware of any delays and was prompt to address any issues. Bella made the difference in this patient receiving timely care. After some intervention from the Director and constant communication from Bella, it was found that the patient had a massive type A aortic dissection and needed emergency surgery. 

The patient and her family were immensely grateful and emotional that they were given a fighting chance to correct this dissection. A physician stated that this was emergent and could not wait any longer. I truly feel that God places people in certain places for a reason. God placed this patient in Bellas's path to ensure that she was taken care of. Had this patient been discharged, I believe she would have had a totally different and devastating outcome. Bella is an angel walking on this earth, and she was so compassionate and diligent to ensure the patient was addressed adequately. The husband collapsed in Bella's arms as they wheeled his wife away to surgery and just thanked her and hugged her for her relentlessness to save his wife. The patient hugged Bella and thanked her for fighting for her and asked if they could take Bella home with them. 

Bella is the reason why this patient made it to surgery and was given a chance to fight. I am blessed to be part of this amazing and special team on 2E!! I am so proud of Bella!!